Charlie Savage’s Twitter Archive—№ 13,142

Kaplan's ruling that DOJ can't substitute the govt as defendant in Jean Carroll lawsuit accusing Trump of defaming her last year when he denied her claim he raped her in the 1990s. (Substituting the govt = dismissing the case for sovereign immunity.)/1 pacer-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/119/543790/127127858494.pdf
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 87 Retweets ❤️ 449 Favorites 2020 Oct 27 Mood -10 🙁

…in reply to @charlie_savage
The main part of the ruling is that a president is not an "employee" of a federal department or agency within the meaning of the Federal Tort Claims Act, the law which enables the government to be substituted for a defendant in certain lawsuits. /2
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 70 Retweets ❤️ 549 Favorites 2020 Oct 27 Mood -1 🙁

…in reply to @charlie_savage
That's a very technical issue, so public discussion will focus on another he addressed as well: even if the FTCA did apply to presidents, comments to press denying accusations about something he did in his personal life before being elected were not part of his official duties./3
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 8 Retweets ❤️ 70 Favorites 2020 Oct 27 Mood -4 🙁

…in reply to @charlie_savage
Kaplan's take that "official duties" ≠ comments to reporters about personal life issues contradicts a DC Circuit ruling involving a lawmaker who defamed a Muslim group while explaining his marital troubles to the press. Basically, Kaplan thinks that case was wrongly decided./4
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 5 Retweets ❤️ 46 Favorites 2020 Oct 27 Mood -4 🙁

…in reply to @charlie_savage
Kaplan (who answers to 2nd Circuit, not DC Circuit, so isn't bound by the latter's precedent) weighed in on that, too, so that if the 2nd Circuit rejects his take on "employee," no need for hypothetical remand to address the "official duties" issue./end
On twitter.com ♻️ 5 Retweets ❤️ 48 Favorites 2020 Oct 27 Mood -2 🙁